


One detour, and another

by Haru D Nae (Anaelita)



Series: Around the Grand Line [40]
Category: One Piece
Genre: Canon Compliant, Drum Island, Gen, M/M, Major Illness, Plothole Fill, Pre-Canon, Prehistoric Islands, SPOILERS FOR CHAPTER 957 AND 967, Will of D.
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-01-23
Updated: 2021-01-23
Packaged: 2021-03-14 08:06:56
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,584
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28917309
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Anaelita/pseuds/Haru%20D%20Nae
Summary: The Oro Jackson doesn't take the fastest route from Water 7 to Fishman Island... things go down, but Roger saves the day.
Relationships: Akagami no Shanks | Red-Haired Shanks/Buggy
Series: Around the Grand Line [40]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/730188
Comments: 10
Kudos: 22





	One detour, and another

**Author's Note:**

> _(I know I haven't updated Around the Grand Line in a while, I've gotten a new job and I've been working on three episodes of this series at once... plus a handful of other writings... that's why it took me so long. Sorry T_T)_
> 
> _This story and the two upcoming installments in this series are my attempt at developing the third page of chapter 967. I really wonder about those few images between Water 7 and Fishman Island... so have another few adventures :D_

"Say, Captain ? When do we arrive at Fishman Island ?", Shanks asks, excited at the idea of mooring and having yet another adventure. "Say, Capta~in ?"

Roger has an exaggerated sigh as he rolls his eyes. "Kid, there are a few places in between us and there. Also, I have an important thing to do, and it will be out of reach once we reach Fishman Island." He places a comforting hand on the teen's shoulder. "Be patient, we'll get there soon enough."

The straw-hatted cabin boy pouts and groans in mild annoyance.

The Oro Jackson's captain offers him an apologetic smile and a pat on the back, but stays determined on seeing the whole of this through. _This_ , that is reading all available Poneglyphs and unveil the truth behind them. He plucks his mustache as he realizes the detour to achieve his goal may be a bit tricky, but he's got enough faith in his crew to make him certain that it's worth a try.

Oden comes by his side, a curious eyebrow raised. "You seem pensive, Captain."

"Have you ever seen the East Blue ?", Roger asks the samurai.

"I don't think so. "

"Some say it's the weakest of all seas, I'd say it's a peculiar one. My birthplace, anyway, and I have one last errand to run there before we set sail for the New World. I know there's a Poneglyph somewhere there, and I need you to read it for me. "

Rayleigh comes by behind the two men. "So we're going through the Calm Belt ? It's been a while", he smirks.

"I already had the fastest route charted : we backtrack, cross the Calm Belt right in the middle, and if everything goes according to plan we'll be in East Blue in a few days ."

Rayleigh raises a skeptical eyebrow.

And as it is, Grand Line's weather is quite unpredictable. There's a tremendous storm on their way, which only gets worse when the ship goes through it. Despite everyone's best efforts, the Oro Jackson takes some damage and part of the supplies get waterlogged.

Roger orders they alter course to restock for basic supplies at the closest island. "I remember this island", he points on the map, " I guess it'll do the trick."

* * *

"Wooooh", Nekomamushi awes once the Oro Jackson reaches the summer island the Captain was talking about a couple of days ago. "The forest looks amazing ! I wanna explore !!"

Oden eagerly grins. " Yeah, me too. What do we need, Captain ? We'll get everything."

"We need food. Lots of meat because we'll go straight through the Calm Belt : we won't be able to find any there, save for Sea King meat... vegetables and fruits as well, and I know for sure this place is packed with fresh stuff. Lots of wildlife here but... nothing you can't handle ", Roger grins.

His First Mate approaches the trio and offers, "Okay, I'll lead the hunting party. Who else's in ?"

"Me !" Buggy raises his hand, for once he's itching to go ashore : it gives him time to practice his skills with knives while making himself useful to the crew. Captain said they'd be okay, and he's going with two monsters anyway, so everything should go _just fine_ .

Proof of that : Toki even lets her husband take their firstborn with them.

With an approving nod, Roger sends them off.

The little expedition gathers whatever edible fruits and veggies they find on their way, and after a while of searching, finds their first target.

"Hey", Buggy whispers, "There's some sort of hairy pig over here."

Rayleigh instantly unsheathe his sword, and dangerously smiles .

The cabin boy barely has the time to ready himself for battle, that it's already over... He groans in annoyance. "Oh come _on_ , lemme some !"

His Mink friend shrugs, "Eh, he's really strong."

"You can still make good use of your knives, Buggy-jiro", Oden says. "I feel kinda hungry. I can cook something, but I could use an aid", he offers.

Rayleigh promptly sets up a fire, the stroll in the forest having stimulated his appetite as well...

Soon, the four hunters and Momonosuke are eating grilled meat and veggies to their heart's content, smiles on their faces.

But soon, a deep growl resounds behind them.

The Dark King freezes. "Uh-oh."

Oden squints, and slowly turns around. "Buggy-jiro, you wanted to hunt ? Now would be a nice time for that."

The rest of the group turn their head to gaze at a gigantic mammoth pointing deadly sharp ivory horns at them. He seems to get ready to charge...

As soon as they realize the beast behind them is certainly the mother of the one they were just feasting on, everybody gathers whatever stuff they've scattered around them, and swiftly makes a beeline for the ship, not bothering to finish cooking their meal, instead gobbling up whatever they have within reach before fleeing.

Buggy yells as he runs for dear life, "Why did NOBODY tell me there were monsters like THIS ?"

Neko has a very satisfied grin.

Not really confident about the issue of this chase, Rayleigh still finds a spare breath to ask Oden, who runs and holds his son over his head at the same time, " Why are you smiling ? What's so funny ?!"

The samurai gives him a side-glance, and explains, "I've seen _bigger pigs_ than that, I'm not about to be afraid of _this_ beast." On cue, he unsheathes Enma and Ame no Habakiri, turns around – mindful of his son still resting on his head – and glares at the huge mammoth. " You're nothing like the Mountain God", he declares and sends a double flying slash at their pursuer.

There's a fleeting moment where Rayleigh, Buggy and Neko only hear the sound of their hurried footsteps, then the ground trembles as the beast falls. They stop and turn around to confirm their suspicions, but there's no doubt left : it's beaten for good, with a single blow from the skilled samurai.

"Hey, everyone, here's more meat", Oden proudly announces.

"Goronyanya", Neko laughs as he rejoices in their adventure.

The hunting party is welcomed back to the ship by Inuarashi and Shanks, who interrupt their card game to call for help to load the edible loot aboard.

Roger thanks Oden for such a nice catch, and order the crew that they set sail towards the Grand Line.

Buggy grumbles, "You could have told us, that the summer island was a _prehistoric_ one."

* * *

Around dinner, Rayleigh starts coughing, but brushes it off.

Crocus decides to keep an eye on him just in case.

By the following morning the First Mate is under a bad fever, and Roger sends him to the infirmary with an order not to get out until he gets better. Rayleigh begrudgingly does as he's told .

Oden has a coughing fit in the afternoon, prompting him to pay a visit to the doctor as well.

Then there's the cat Mink and Buggy who go see Crocus to complain about running noses and soreness when they swallow.

Another day in, and Crocus worries because the symptoms his patients manifest are slowly but surely spreading to the crew, and he doesn't understand why he can't seem to treat them. With the help of a few healthy nakama, the doctor organizes a quarantine on the ship to help prevent the spreading of the unknown disease : the lowest deck is reserved for patients, and a few volunteers are equipped with protective masks to avoid contagion.

A few of them still catch a bad fever, and have to join their sick nakama in the lowest bunks.

Crocus tells Toki to stay away from her husband and the other sick people aboard, and keep Momonosuke and Hiyori with her at all times : he fears it'd be fatal for such youngsters.

A couple of days later, roughly a half of the Oro Jackson's crew experiences mild pain, coughing, in worse cases, bad fever, with the First Mate being in the worst condition.

The doctor spends most of his time in his his infirmary, preparing whatever medicine he can to alleviate some of the most problematic symptoms, even if he can't manage to cure them completely. When he's not there he's in the sick bay, he barely sleeps anymore but the situation gets worse every day and he won't allow himself to let his patient's health degrade.

Shanks and Inuarashi are worried about their respective bunkmates and the rest of their nakama, and their concern skyrockets when Crocus himself falls sick.

The ship's doctor secludes himself in the sick bay with the others. Between a coughing fit and the other, Crocus explains, to a very concerned Captain, "I don't know what to do. I'm pretty sure it comes from that prehistoric island we restocked at, but the form of this disease is so ancient I'm missing the right treatment. The problem is, it's very contagious and evolves rapidly, so we need adequate medicine, and we need it _now_. It's really dangerous for the kids ", he gives a side-glance towards the other side of the sick bay, "and Buggy and Nekomamushi caught it."

Roger grits his teeth at the doctor's diagnosis. He has a serious frown and declares, "Then we're going to Drum Kingdom. They have the best doctors there, surely they can help." As Crocus nods his approval, the Captain goes to the crew's navigator to give new directions. Together they chart the new route and depart for the winter island. Roger's worried frown creases his forehead but he still tries to see the light at the end of the tunnel. "At least it's almost on our way, since we were backtracking in Paradise anyway." He heavily sighs.

The few volunteers doing their best to deliver what little medicine they have to their sick nakama all catch the unknown disease.

Determined, Roger splits what's left of his crew between the few that have never been in contact with any of the sick since the quarantine has been established, that is Toki, her children, the cook, and a handful of others ; and the remaining few, including Shanks, Inuarashi, the navigator and himself.

The first group is to quarantine themselves in the clean upper decks, far from the sick bay, next to the galley. They should not go into contact with any other member of the crew until the situation is resolved, unless one of them exhibits any symptom, in which case they're to join the other group immediately .

"At any rate, your kids must stay safe", Roger tells Oden's wife from across the other side of the deck before wishing them well.

The other group is tasked with doing whatever it takes to reach Drum Island as fast as possible, sick or not.

"I know Tom's ship is able to sail anywhere. She'll make it, we'll make it", Roger promises his crew.

* * *

By the time they reach the winter island, everyone in the second group has caught the disease. Still, they're here, and they finally drop the anchor.

Roger's condition only makes it worse, but he needs to save his crew. Following Crocus's advice, he goes alone, wearing a surgical mask so as not to contaminate the locals. He reaches the village of Cocoa Weed within an hour despite the harsh weather, and starts asking around for a doctor. "My crew is sick", he starts explaining to the first one he finds.

"Your crew ? Are you... pirates ?"

"Who cares, I'm telling you we're _sick_ ." He doesn't even have to force the following coughing fit.

"I won't treat you. If I do, when your crew gets better you'll come back and attack us."

"I swear we won't. Please, my crew-"

"I care about this island more than I care about sick pirates, I won't treat you", the doctor says before hurriedly slamming the door in Roger's face.

The pirate captain grits his teeth, quiet anger bubbling inside his chest, echoing next to his worrying, yet he reminds himself that he's on a mission. He resumes his search, determined on finding a cure .

Every doctor here loves their land, their people. None of them is willing to save a bunch of sick pirates, for fear they'd condemn those they love. But the last of them gives Roger a sliver of hope. "There's this witch living up north, on the outskirts of Gyasta."

"A witch ?" He's willing to take any risk at this point.

"She's old and weird, but... she might be willing to help you."

Roger curtly bows. "I'll go find her then", he says, and takes his leave. He walks for hours in the snow, and encounters humongous rabbits who boldly attack him. Sick and tired of the obstacles in his path, he simply knocks them out with a wave of Conqueror's Haki. He has another bad coughing fit, but when it stops and his vision focuses again, he discerns windows on a huge tree by the lake. There's light inside, and it seems pretty fitting for a witch to live inside a tree, so he hurries there, fighting against the freezing wind .

After a few knocks on the door and a short wait, the door opens to reveal a woman who looks in her prime, despite her wrinkled face indicating she's actually much older than Roger. She raises a curious eyebrow and asks, "You here for the secret of my youth ?", sporting a toothy grin.

"For a cure", Roger manages to say before he has yet another coughing fit. His vision blurs, and he faints on the doorstep.

* * *

Roger comes to inside a wooden house, it takes him a couple of hazed minutes to put two and two together and understand he's in the so-called witch's tree house. He looks to his right to understand he's laying on an examination table in the center of the main room.

"Considering the condition you're in, you should be dead", the old woman says, tinkering something at Roger's left.

He turns to gaze at her back, and says, voice tight. "I refuse to die as long as my crew needs me ."

She has a thoughtful hum, and keeps tinkering whatever.

"My ship is moored on the eastern coast. Our doctor fell sick as well, so nobody can treat my crew right now. We have kids aboard and I'm worried about them. I'll pay whatever your price is, my nakama's lives are at stake."

"Is that so ?", the old woman seems interested all of a sudden, as she stops tinkering and turns around. "Heeeeeheeheehee. Well you better ante up, because I hadn't seen that form of diphtheria since my first year of studying medicine. Where did you catch that ?"

"On a prehistoric island", Roger deadpans.

She laughs again, and wonders aloud, "So there are still people crazy enough to visit those ?"

Roger can't help a grin, as painful as it is. "I visited _all_ of those. And I intend on finding the last island as well." His face turns serious again when he adds, "I need my crew for that. Please, save them."

The woman examines his face, apparently deciphering his intentions. "What's your name, pirate ?", she squints at him.

"Gol D. Roger."

She stills. After blinking at the pirate, she grins and declares, "I'm Doctor Kureha, and I will treat your crew."

Roger closes his eyes and sighs of relief.

* * *

Shanks is on the lookout, under a bad fever but still having enough faith in his Captain that he forces himself to stay awake and alert until Roger is back. He squints at two distant people walking towards the ship, ready to give the alert if need be, uses the long-view to confirm his suspicions, and finally, shouts "Captain's back !!", before making his way down as quickly as possible.

Roger introduces Doctor Kureha to the few people on the main deck, and they quickly organize the healthier part of the crew in order to treat as many sick as fast as possible.

Crocus is the first patient. He comes to as Kureha administrates her medicine, and she rapidly teaches him how to treat the most advanced cases.

Then it's Rayleigh's turn, whose condition has been really getting worse over the last few days. Kureha puts him under both medication and re-hydration.

Roger comes by his First Mate, and asks the doctor, voice tight, "How's my partner ?"

"He'll be good as new in a few days", Kureha says as she injects another dose of medicine in Rayleigh's arm.

Roger feels tears of relief and gratitude prickling at the corners of his eyes. He quickly blinks them away and gives the doctor his best grin. "Thanks, Doctor. I'd give you all of my gold if that's what it takes to save them all."

The old woman turns around, mischief gleaming in her eyes. "We'll see about that." She smiles wide, then instructs him, "Now go give everyone their treatment. Or do you want them to have sequelae ?"

Roger unhappily grunts, he doesn't like to be ordered around, especially on his ship.

But, "You're lucky I still know how to treat that", Kureha says after a while. "You said you had kids with you ? We need to hurry, that form of the disease can be fatal, even more so to them."

Swallowing his pride, Roger firmly nods and immediately does what it takes to have everyone safe.

Kureha's long-awaited cure works surprisingly fast, and even Rayleigh comes to, though tired as hell, on the third day of his treatment.

Kureha declares the quarantine over on the sixth day of continued care and medicine, and asks Roger for payment.

With a tinge of regret, Roger remembers he offered her all his gold. But his nakama's lives were at stake, so he shrugs the awkward feeling away and nods to the old doctor.

She follows him downstairs to the lower decks and into the loot room, and once there's just the two of them there, she asks, " What is your end game, bearer of "D." ?"

Roger, slowly, turns around to face her and asks, "What do you mean, "D." ?"

"Last time I saw a "D." rise to power, he was dubbed as a threat to the entire world". She squints at Roger. "Haven't heard of him since a good decade, though. Any idea what might've happened to him ?"

Roger takes a sharp inhale and squints at her. "Rocks...?"

"Heeeeeheeheeheehee. I thought well, that you'd be one to know."

"Hm. And, how do _you_ ?"

She takes a swig of her _umeshu_ bottle, and eludes, "I've lived long enough to notice bearers of "D." from time to time. Now, I believe I've answered all three of your questions, and you none of my two."

There's something odd Roger can't quite pinpoint about her, yet she just saved his crew so he's greatly indebted to her. That, and she agreed to treat them as soon as she knew his name, so if she wanted him dead, he'd be. Strangely, Roger feels a smile forming at the corners of his lips. "Rocks is no more", he tells her, "and I actually had to... rely on another "D." at that time." He frowns, remembering Garp fighting alongside him.

"Ha, that Vice-Admiral, Hero of the Marine they call him now, right ?"

"What do you know that I don't ?", Roger squints at the old woman.

"Another question without an answer ! But maybe you have a short attention span, so let me ask you again..." She briskly invades his personal space and threatens his jugular with a scalpel she got out of who knows where. "What's your end game, bearer of "D." ?"

Roger dangerously smiles as he looks down at her. He knows Kureha won't kill or even maim him, but she's determined to see this through. And so is he. "The great treasure that lies at the end of the Grand Line. Not that of the Log Pose, mind you, we've been to Lodestar. I mean where the red Poneglyphs will lead us."

"Ooh, I see." Kureha slides her scalpel into a pocket, and steps back. "I'm very curious to see one of you succeed at that, actually."

Roger crosses his arms and studies the old woman. " You know what the "D." stands for... You'll never tell me, though", he bemusedly says after a while.

"Sharp. I won't make an enemy out of you, either. Keep the gold, just give me enough to eat for the week and I'll wish you good luck."

Happy to confirm there's something worth at the end of his road, Roger grins. "I'll make it double, 'cause without you I'd have lost my crew, thus my means to achieve my goal."

Kureha grins as well. "I'll take it."

Meanwhile, unaware of the conversation happening between Kureha and their Captain, the crew rejoices together.

Oden happily rejoins his wife and children, glad that neither of them has fallen ill. "I knew Captain Roger would save us", he says, relieved and sincere.

The cabin boys and the Minks play on the deck as if nothing bad happened recently.

On their seventh day on the coast of Drum Island, most are up and about, a few are still a bit tired but the Oro Jackson's crew knows they can set sail soon. A few volunteers are sent ashore to buy a few extra supplies, and they organize a party to thank the doctor that saved them all.

The following morning, as she watches them depart, Kureha wonders aloud, "Is this one "D." the true recipient of their will ? It's been long enough that the world awaits."

**Author's Note:**

> I'll publish the next two episodes next month if everything goes to plan :)


End file.
